Rail-fastening



w. s. COUGHUN.

am nsrfums.

' APPUCION "LID NM1. l' ',19- 1,31 6,941 PatentedSept. 23, 1919.

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W. G. COUGHLIN.

RAIL FASTENING. APPLICATION FILED MAR. l. 1919.

Patented Sept. 23,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Swanton annue W. G. COUGHLIN.'

RAIL FASTENING.

APPLIcMloN msn MAR.1.19|9.

Patented Sept. 23, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 WILLIAM G. COUG'HLIN, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-FASTENIN G.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 23, 1919.

Application led March 1, 1919. Serial No. 280,015.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM G. COUGHLIN, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Philadelphia, Philadelphia county, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certaln new and useful Improvements in Rail-Fastenings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rail fastenings for railroads, particularly to adjustable fastenings `of this character and its objects are to provide such a device which may be used with all forms of rail support, and with nearly all kinds of rails, and which at the same time allows gaging, lining and surfacing of the trackway without removing the device from the support.

The invention will be fully disclosed in the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top view of a wooden tie supporting T rails and having my improved rail fastening incorporated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an end view;

Fig. 4 is a top View of a concrete tie supporting T rails and having my improved fastening devices;

Fig. 5 isa side view of the same;

Fig. 6 is an end view of the tie shown in Figs. l and 5;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a section of concrete roadbed showing my improved rail fastening used therewith to secure T rails;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the roadbed;

Fig. 9 is a side view of a portion of the same;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged side view of the rail fastening; Fig. 11 is a view of the same from th inside of the rail;

Fig. 12 is a view of the same from the outside of the rail; and

Fig. 13 is a View of a detail.

The improved rail fastening may be used with almost any form of railand with any form of rail support and in the drawings I have shown it in connection with wooden ties, concrete ties and a solid concrete support, but for convenience will describe it in detail when used in connection with only one of these forms of support, which is the roadbed disclosed in Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. In this form of support a heavy concrete base 10 is provided through which. run reinforcing bars 1l in any desired inanner to give the same great strength and rigidity. In addition to the necessary reinforcing bars 1l, additional transverse bars 12 extend through the concrete mass near its upper surface.

These anchor bars 12 have U-shaped portions or offsets 13 and 14 near their outer ends, so spaced relatively that the bars 12 cross and recross the recesses 15 in the convcrete base, on opposite sides of each rail of the track, the exposed portions being substantially parallel to the rails. The transverse bars 12 will hereinafter be known as anchor bars, as the portions of the same which are exposed due to its crossing and recrossing the recesses 15, serve as anchor points to which the rail securing means now to be described is anchored.

Referring particularly to Figs. 10, ll and 12 it is seen that the T rail 16 having the usual flanged base is supported upon a wooden shim 17, which is tapered and which rests upon the inclined upper surface of the base, the taper of the shim being such that its upper surface is substantially horizontal, or inclined downwardly toward the center of the trackway thus tipping the rail slightly inward, if this is desired. The rails 16 are entirely supported by these wooden shims 17 which are arranged at about the same intervals as wooden ties in the ordinary roadbed. Because of the wedge shape of the shim, the rail can be raised or lowered by moving the shim toward or from the center of the trackway. This is a very desirable feature as it enables the rails to be leveled properly or given their correct relative elevations, which is called surfacing.

Angleirons 18 abut against the outer ends of the shim 17, each of these angle irons being provided with a short screw bolt 19, which passes through an opening in the horizontal part of the angle iron and the lower end of which is adapted to enter any one of a series of holes 20 in the metallic strip 21 inlaid in the concrete. The angle iron prevents the shim from moving longitudinally out of place accidentally, while at the same time does not hinder its ready adjustment when desired. The elongated recesses 15 in the concrete base alternate with the wooden shims and there-is'loc'ated at each of these recesses a rail fastening for adj-ustably securing the rail tothe support.

Engaging thebase or bottom flange of the rail at each of the points where it 1s' secured are two clips 22 and 23 arranged:v on opposite sides thereof, each of which 1sV secured to the anchor bar on the-opposite side of the rail by a ubolt, the inner clip 23 of the Vtwo being securedy to -bothV anchor bars. The securing bolts above mentioned are indicated at 24, 25 'and' 26 in the drawings and all of theV bolts are substantially alike although thev vary in length'.Y Each is provided at oneend withja bentV portion or hook and at the other end with a threaded portion of suitable length adapted to receive a threaded nut as'indicated at 27 The bolts Y Y pass through tapered openings in the clips 22and23, one ofsuch openings being provided in the outer'clip'22 andV two 1n the inner vclip 23, and the openings beine' tapered in suchy manner that vwhen the bolts alter their angles with the horizontal due to the'.

Y ingly curved bottoms; Thesespring washersabsorb-the shock and strainl due to the passing of a train along the trackway and their spherical bases always permit their being seated normallywith the line of Vthrust along the bolt. The vlower ends of the securing bolts are hooked over the anchor bars land after the rail is adjusted vertically and horizontally'to its correct position, and lon-lV -gitudinal'ly if necessary, the bolt nuts 27 are tightened and the rail issecured in such position until" such time when readjustment Vis thought" necessary. If: the gage Vof the track has become faulty, 0r the rails are not'ex-` actly in straight lines, &c., or it needs readjustment for elevation, it is only necessary' to loosen the bolts and to manually readjust the" rail to its proper position after which they Vmay be tightened and the rail secured to its trueposition. Thesevarious operations are called gaging, lining and surn facing and are the commonoperations constantly'performed in maintaining the trackwayinperfect condition. Y

It is to be noted that to accomplish these various adjustments it was necessary only to loosen the nuts 27 and that no portion of the f device was' removed from its position. It is also obvious that one type of. rail might be completely removed ,from the roadbed and another type placed thereonV and that the fastening described would permit this to be done withoutsubstituting any special parts, except, in some instances, clips of a different shape. In other words, the fastening is practically a universal Yone for all types ofV rails. v

In order to prevent the longitudinal creeping of the rail, I have flared the up- Lperjaws of the clips as shown at 30 and 31V in the drawings. If therail has a tendency to creep, the edges of the flared portions gitudinal axes ofthe bolts makeronly small' angles with the horizontal and ythereby are very Vnearly parallel with the line of thrust which Va passing train exerts on the rail and which tends to overturn it or spread the rails. rI"he maximum strengthV of the fastening in thi's respect for a given weight of met'al'is thereby'realized.A .Y

An important feature of my invention Yis that one of the rail securing clips is ann chored at two different points in the support. This arrangement absolutely prevents this particular clip from moving vertically or horizontally since it is at one apex of a triangle the length of whose sides can not change. The anchoringof one clip to two different points gives a rigidity to the entire fastening which is not present in fastenings ofv this character heretofore designed, in which the clips or other rail securing devices have been secured by single bolts only, in which case it isimpossib-le to have a'bsolute lsecurity against rotation of the entire securing device about its anchor point or defor- Y mation of the system in case two anchoring points are used, one for each clip.

The device is simple, inexpensive, easily adjusted and very easy Vto install in the first place. After the support hasV been prepared and the anchor bars located, itis onlyrnecessary to place the rails on the wooden shims, adjust them for line, gage, and surface, hook the bolts 24, 25 and 26 over the anchor bars and tighten up the nuts 27 when the fastenfurther adjustment is required. Y

In Figs. l, 2 and 3 which illustrate'wooden ties the anchor'bars pass through openings located at or near'the horizontal center line of the ties and extend outwardly on each side, the securing bolts being anchored to the ends of the same which protrude VfromV the ties. Clips are placed on each side of the tie so that no unbalanced forces willbe placed on the anchor bolts which might tend to turn the -tie over and itis obvious that every other tie in the roadbed only need be ing' will retain the rail until such timefas provided with the rail fastenings.

In Figs. V4, 5 and 6 I have illustrated the improved rail fastening device used in connectionv with Y a concrete tie. Its arrangement is exactly the same as in the case ofthe wooden tie and it accomplished the same functions, the only difference being in the method of arranging the anchor bars, a number of different ways for doing which may be devised.

In connection with the fastening above described, suitable tie plates may be used if desired. The fastening may be used to secure switches, frogs or otherl special rails and as stated previously comprises an inexpensive and convenient fastening device applicable to all types 0f rail supports and rails, which may be easily adjusted in gaging, surfacing and lining the rails and which is absolutely rigid because of its trusslike structure.

Having thus described my invention what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A rail fastening comprising, in combination with the rail and support therefor, separated anchor bars secured in the support below the base of the rail, clips engaging the base of the rail on o posite sides thereof, two bolts connecting sa1d clips with said anchor bars respectively and a third bolt connecting one of said clips with one of said anchor bars, for the purpose set forth.

2. A rail fastening comprising, in combination with a rail and a support therefor, two anchorbars secured in the support below the base of the rail one being arranged on each side thereof, clips engaging the base of the rail on opposite sides thereof, two bolts connecting said clips to said anchor bars respectively and a third bolt connecting one of said clips with one of said anchor bars, for the purpose set forth.

3. A rail fastening comprising, in combination with a rail and a support therefor, separated anchor bars secured in the support below the base of the rail, clips engagin the base of the rail on opposite sides thereo the clip on the inner side of the rail base being provided with two tapering openings therethrough and the clip on the outer side of the rail base being provided with a single tapering opening, said openings being adapted to receive bolts passing therethrough, two bolts passing through said openings in the inner clip and connecting the same with two anchor bars, and a third bolt passing through the opening in said outer clip and connecting the same with the inner bar, for the purpose set forth.

4. A rail fastening comprising, in combination with a rail and a support therefor, separated anchor bars secured in the support below the base of the rail, clips engaging the base of the rail on opposite sides thereof, said clips having openings therethrough for bolts and spherical recessses at the upper ends of said openings and concentric therewith, two bolts connecting said clips with said anchor bars respectively and a third bolt connecting one of said clips with one of said anchor bars, said bolts having spring washers with spherical bases at their upper ends, the spherical bases of the washers being adapted to seat in the spherical recesses of the clips whereby the washer will be seated normally with the line of thrust of the bolt.

5. A rail fastenind comprising, in combination with the rail: and support therefor, separated anchor bars connected in the support below the base of the rail, clips engaging the base of the rail on opposite sides thereof, two bolts connecting said clips with said anchor bars respectively and a third bolt connecting one of said clips with one of said anchor bars, the lower ends of said bolts being provided with hooked portions extending around said anchor bars allowing them to be readily removed when desired, for the purpose set forth.

6. A rail fastening comprising, in combination with a rail and a tie supporting the same, separated anchor bars secured to said tie at or near its horizontal center line, clips engaging the base of the rail on opposite sides thereof, two bolts connecting sa1d clips with said anchor bars respectively and a third bolt connecting one of said clips with one of said anchor bars, for the purpose set forth.

7. A rail fastening comprising, in combination with a rail, a support therefor and a wedge or tapered shim between said rail and said support for vertically adjusting the rail, separated anchor bars secured in the support below the base of the rail, clips engaging the base of the rail on opposlte sides thereof. two bolts connecting said clips with said anchor bars respectively and a third bolt connecting one of said clips with one of said anchor bars, for the purpose set forth.

8. A rail fastening comprising, in combination with a rail, a support therefor, a tapered shim or wedge between the rail and support for adjusting the elevation of the rail and means for securing said wedge or tapered shim in any desired position, of separated anchor bolts secured in the support below the base of the rail, clips engagino' the baseJ of the rail on opposite sides thereo two bolts connecting sa1d clips with anchor bars respectively and a third bolt connecting one of said clips with one of said anchor bars, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM G. COUGHLIN.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

